Lady Houns drop home opener 10-6

Thursday

Aug 24, 2017 at 12:15 PM

Emily Kesel

A seven-run first inning for Hartville was the Lady Houns’ undoing on Monday, as Aurora dropped its first home game of the year by a score of 10-6.

Freshman starting pitcher Bethany Rogers struggled with her control in the first frame, allowing three hits and three walks and hitting two batters over two-thirds of an inning. Junior Hailey Sturgell came on in relief with two outs and runners at first and second with the score already at 7-0. The reliever forced a ground ball to senior third baseman Cheyenne Eutsler, who stepped on the bag for the third out.

The 7-0 score stood until the bottom of the third, when the Aurora offense came to life for four runs. Freshman leadoff hitter Elizabeth Martin reached on an infield single and advanced to second when sophomore Kaysie Carr reached on an error.

Eutsler then drove a single to left field, driving in Martin for Aurora’s first run. A double by junior Autumn Danforth drove in Carr and Eutsler to make it 7-3, and after a sacrifice bunt, Danforth came in to score on a ground ball to the shortstop off the bat of Sturgell.

Hartville would add a run in each of the last three innings to make it a 10-4 game with only one chance left for the Lady Houns. Aurora would shorten the lead with three singles in the last frame, but the game would end with the Lady Houns still short four runs.

Danforth’s two runs and two RBI on one hit led the day, while Eutsler added two runs and one RBI on three hits. Only three Lady Houns failed to record a hit on the evening.

In the circle, Rogers earned the loss in two-thirds of an inning, giving up seven earned runs on three hits while striking out two. Sturgell gave up eight hits over six and a third innings, allowing two earned runs.

Aurora will look to pick up its first win at home against Bolivar on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.